So here we are then peeps then I'm off to retirement / semi-retirement, don't want to outstay my welcome hereabouts.
Beachcomber’s Tales from the Day [ Final Tale – Maybe ] September 2015
“
For Micky Carps – and all I have known”
I have just had chance to reflect on Mick and all things past on my recent chill break to Saxony. The break was really conducive to some deep thought ….. perfect weather [ 30 – 40 degrees C ], excellent food and drink and the company of some good pals – not to mention Mrs.B !
Initially there were a flood of random memories of the period, but after a day or two – events moved into sharp focus, and I was almost back there ……. No doubt aided by the odd Schnapps or 6.
I just could not put my finger on exactly how and when I met Mick and how our friendship grew. Eventually I recalled………………….
I was in the process of looking for a couple of Triumph engines – a 650 for a bike I was building for a pal [ Tribsa ], and a 500 for myself – ideally I was trying to track down the 500GP parts – or ex. RAF stationary generators as we knew them ! Mick was an apprenticed mechanic at a local Romford Vauxhall [ GM ] car dealers and I’d been pointed in his direction by my pal Maurice as a likely source for the engines I needed.
I had fully expected him to be one of the Café Racer guys, but was I in for a surprise when I met him. In fact I was fully expecting to meet up with him up the Lay-Bye or one of the local Caffs we frequented. In the end I went along to the garage he worked at, and due to the hierachy of the day – I was NOT allowed to see him during “working hours” so had to wait around until his lunch break. I was greeted by a slightly balding [ but well Brylcreemed ! ] guy in overalls [ 4 or 5 years older than myself ], and I’m sure Mick would laugh out loud if I now described him as “slightly overweight for his height”. Not yer archetypal Café Racer. In fact he was no such thing ………. Mick was an old fashioned bike enthusiast who had grown up post War with a bike as his only means of transport – come rain or shine. I told him what I was after and he said he could help and I should visit him at his parent’s house that weekend.
When I arrived, I was greeted by the sight of a pristine [ and almost new ] Tiger 100 outside his house and a rather ratty Blue TonTen parked a little further along. Yep the TonTen was Carps’ bike ! The T100 belonged to his elder Brother John – some 15 years older than Mick.
A typical terraced Dagenham house – not unlike my Nan’s, but he did have the benefit of access to the rear via an allotment that backed on to the house. It occurs to me that many of the non UK peeps might be confused by “allotment”. These were patches of ground – usually in urban areas – that had been given over to the production of fuit and veg during the War years. These were owned by the local council and ordinary householders could apply for a patch for their own use. At the time they were very popular and the waiting list for a suitable allotment was a case of waiting for someone to die off and hope that their children didn’t want to take it over !
I was taken through the house out to the back yard, where I was surprised to find quite a large garden with an Aviary and worksheds all along one side for the length of the garden ! Mick’s workshop was at the far end – and next to the access via the allotment. Once inside the converted Aviary, the scene couldn’t have been more different. All the interior walls were clad in timber and faced with the then new fangled “Formica”. In distinct contrast to Mick [ still dressed in his mechanic’s overalls ] – the interior was clean and well laid out – very clinical. The timber and “Formica” were courtesy of brother John who was working as a builder in the post war race to build cheap affordable housing. But the next shed was where I wanted to be – as I walked past I saw several metal storage shelves with 10 or so Triumph engines and parts ! Mick had managed to get his hands on several ex RAF gennies courtesy of his big brother John who had been in the RAF during the war serving as ground crew. Mick agreed to sell me two sets of the GP cylinders and heads, together with a good 650 unit for my pal’s bike. Although Mick [ and his Brother ] didn’t own a car – his Father did – a Ford Anglia 100E. Hid Dad worked at Ford’s plant in Dagenham as a sprayer and had taken advantage of the employee purchase scheme to get the Anglia. His Father took me under his wing and showed me the art of painting – many of my bikes going through the shed passing the “spray booth” on the way !
So the Triumph parts were loaded in the boot and Mick dropped them off at my Nan’s ……………..so, that’s how we met.
Mick was NOT in the same mind set us the rest of us Café Racers, neither was he a “club” person, preferring to go out on his own for a blast round the Essex countryside. As our friendship grew, he did accompany us to the Caffs and occassional weekend outings [ see “Disastrous Day Out at Duxford” Tale ]. His bike was deceptively quick, but the evil Triumph “hinged in the middle” frame saw him avoiding any real meaningful burn-ups. He did enjoy a good reputation for building quick Triumph engines for his mates, but avoided any commercialism to sell to all and sundry. Then one day came the news that Mick had been nerfed off his bike by a drunk driver and was in hospital with a broken leg. The outcome of this was that Mick ended up with a permanent leg / ankle displacement, and as a result couldn’t ride a solo any more. No that didn’t deter him ……….. the insurance paid out handsomely allowing him to invest in an almost new Bonneville / Monza outfit. It was a couple of rides out on this plot that got me into sidecars as a serious means of fun !
This was also the occassion that I last worked with Mick on an engine. He decided that the Bonnie lump could do with some improvement. With that we pulled the engine and replaced it with the old TonTen engine from his written off bike so that the outfit was still a runner – all done on a Saturday afternoon ! I had become quite useful at porting and blueprinting heads – so that was entrusted to me while Mick pulled the bottom end apart to work on that. Just as well we did – we were both surprised at the relevant lack of poke from the Bonnie – reinforced by the fact that the temporary TonTen replacement was noticeably quicker. When we got into the bottom end we discovered that the engine had been fitted [ FROM NEW ] with normal cam followers rather than the 3059R units designed to work with the E3134 cams. Slight digression – there were in fact TWO versions of the E3134, one made by the factory [?] and one supplied by Tricor. The Tricor version gave a slightly different cam timing – and was deemed to be “the one” – if you could find them – digression over.
This mismatch had the effect of rounding off the cam lobes and reducing the power considerably! Additionally there was a lot of metal debris in the engine. After a round of fucks, Mick just said “Oh well” and decided to rebuild. However, I decided we should take it further and I contacted Triumph direct to tell them what we thought. I was well known to Triumph’s competition department via my efforts with the 500GP motors – they thought I was some sort of major engine tuner with all these 500GPs ….. little realising that they were ex RAF gennie lumps ! They sent one of their engineer reps along to meet us at the local Triumph dealers where Mick had bought the outfit. We were asked to bring the offending parts along for inspection. It only took the engineer minutes to confirm the error and having checked and confirmed the build date etc. via the engine numbers agreed that they were at fault. He asked if we would keep it to ourselves – especially with my contacts amongst the racing fraternity [?]. “Well that all depends” quoth Beachcomber – “How about this” responded the engineer pointing to a BRAND NEW Bonnie lump ! He insisted on keeping the cams and followers, but said we could keep the rest of the motor. Mick was so pleased that he promptly gave me the remains of the damaged Bonnie lump…………
Around this time Mick started to get serious with a young lady of his acquaintance [ later to become his lifelong Wife ], and we saw less and less of him.
Then – double jeopardy, he was AGAIN hit by a drunk driver and ended up back in hospital, this time with a severely shattered hip and pelvis, broken collarbone AND a punctured lung courtesy of a broken rib. Naturally we all went along to visit [ and create mayhem in the wards ], and were not at all surprised when on one visit we spotted BMW sales brochures all over his bed ! His girlfriend [ by this time fiancee ] was not at all happy and wanted him to get a car with the insurance payout. In the end, Mick got his way.
After he got out there was a long period of rehab, when he effctively had to learn to walk again – surgery back then is NOT at all that we expect today. Again we lost contact for a while, then one day a brand new BMW R60 / Steib outfit rolled into the lay-bye – yes Mick again !
By this time his Brother John and his new Wife had moved back to Cornwall where his parents had come from pre-War. Mick was also now engaged, and had several visits to John’s new Cornish home, so it was no surprise when he announced that he was getting married and going off to live in Cornwall.
In preparation Mick was selling off all sorts of tools, equipment and more importantly – his stash of Triumph engines and spares. He gave me first crack at the engines and I managed to scrape enough cash together to buy everything except a couple of old iron T’Bird engines. This included the remainder of his generator set GPs – 3 in all. By this time I was in my own accomodation and had the good old race transporter which meant that moving the stuff was no problem.
Mick’s final days in Dagenham were a whirlwind of visiting caffs and the Lay-Bye to say his goodbyes – but he refused any sort of farewell party and slipped away to Cornwall in the end suddenly and without fanfare.
I made Mick’s acquaintance again some 30 years later after I had written an article about one of my Bob Mac Connies for a Motorcycle magazine which he read. He contacted the magazine stating our previous friendship, and they passed his address on to me. I visited him in Cornwall a couple of times in the next few years. He was in very poor health and no longer had a bike – in fact he’d gone back to his hobby of birds [ feathered type ] and had built a huge Aviary in his garden.
We kept in sporadic touch, until eventually even that contact dried up – something I now deeply regret………….
This could have been Carps' Ton Ten - certainly ratty enough !
And this is a dead ringer for his R60 outfit
And here's a 100E Anglia from the period
